"We Didn't Mean for This to Happen"

[SunVenus]

I guess I am in a minority of this forum because I don't think BDI at all. Are people here suggesting that nine-year-old BR hit his sister in the head with such force that it fractured her skull from the front to the back? That's a lot of force. A nine-year-old would be capable of that much force I have no doubt but it would have to be very intensional, not an accident. You don't hit someone hard enough to do that kind of damage by accident. You do it purposefully, with the intent to 'at least' hurt, if not kill. Like I said, I don't see it, but it is possible. That would make BR a child psychopath that he murdered his own sister.

The idea that BDI makes me sick at heart, but sadly I can easily entertain that idea. Now that Kolar's book has come out, it seems more & more likely.

But if Burke hit JBR in the head, it didn't have to be pre-meditiated, his intention may not have been to kill her. It was late, perhaps both kids were fussy-- tired, keyed up from all the Christmas activities, on edge due to the miasma of the Ramsey dynamic, not being supervised as the parents were doing last minute stuff to prepare for an early flight, etc. Furthermore kids are physically strong (not as strong as adults, but a physically healthy kid can exert lethal force, especially against another kid with a developing skull), the additonal mass & leverage behind using an object like a golf club for heavy flashlight could have accidentally caused more damage than he even imagined. And tragically, we do know that kids can kill-- sometimes deliberately, and sometimes by accident. That doesn'tnecessarily make Burke a psychopath (we need far more detial & evidence to entertain that as a diagnosis), a lot of what we have (and are now) learning about the Ramsey family dynamic is that is was very sick, and it seems inevitiable that someone would snap. To quote Yeats: "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;"... Burke may well be just as much a victim in all this even if he was the cause of the devastaing head blow. That doesn't indicate psychopathy, but may well indicate volitility and a break. Someone in that family was bound to snap at some point.

 

[SunVenus]

BOESP,
It was the parents who did the staging their forensic traces are all over the wine-cellar crime-scene, Burke's is not.

BDI is the best explanation to date. It explains nearly everything, except for the usual arcane details.

We have a motive, an opportunity, and a method, and if Kolar is to be believed it all started in the breakfast bar?

My only reservation is the head bash, it just seems out of place. Apparently there is prior chronic abuse, but no need for prior head bashing.

Other than that it is obviously RDI, it could be any one of them, but given the surrounding evidence BDI seems to fit the bill.


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Protecting Burke is the most logical reason I can see JR & PR staging a cover up and not spilling the beans had one or the other of the parents done the murder. It's a sad conclusion I have reached lately, but it grosses me out completely. I want so much for it to be something else (actually I wish most that none of this had ever happened, but that goes without saying.) But I also entertain other ideas, such as maybe JR was both murdered & molestor, and PR wouldn't say anything as if she did turn in JR, she'd be "without a man" (a tragedy even for a modern southern belle who hasn't the strength of character to stand on her own two feet, appearances were everything to her even if they were outdated ideas on appearance), not to mention that it's one thing to fight cancer, but to fight it as a suddenly single woman with a husband in jail for murder and finances all askew.. well, she didn't want to lose security, even it it meant having to live with and look a murderer in the eye day after day. I think she hadn't much (if any) perosonal integrity so the difficult but ethical choice may have been beyoind her capabilities. Now if PR murdered JBR (and even been the molester), I am not sure why JR would have stood by her, although I doubt he has any integrity either. Some people prefer to lie in their own excrement rather than face change, and he was likely caught up in the "appearnce" game every bit as much as PR.

Good god, this whole case simply turns my stomach.

 

[UKGuy]

I guess I am in a minority of this forum because I don't think BDI at all. Are people here suggesting that nine-year-old BR hit his sister in the head with such force that it fractured her skull from the front to the back? That's a lot of force. A nine-year-old would be capable of that much force I have no doubt but it would have to be very intensional, not an accident. You don't hit someone hard enough to do that kind of damage by accident. You do it purposefully, with the intent to 'at least' hurt, if not kill. Like I said, I don't see it, but it is possible. That would make BR a child psychopath that he murdered his own sister.

Anyhoo,
The head bash appears intentional because it happens after the sexual assault. That is it was not head bash first, so to allow a molestation, which might be a standard criminal MO.

Then again it might be accidental in that JonBenet ran into the path of the object as it hit her head, so increasing the momentum and head injury?

Also all the elements of the staging have never been agreed upon, some think aspects are staging others actual assault. I still think manual strangulation might have happened first with JonBenet losing consiousness and becoming comatose.

The head bash might be a first attempt at staging, eventually the ligature is applied to mess up the appearance of her neck.

That is, crazy as it seems, Burke applied some basic staging which was then rearranged by his parents, that which did not fit, was dumped into the wine-cellar.


.

 

[UKGuy]

Protecting Burke is the most logical reason I can see JR & PR staging a cover up and not spilling the beans had one or the other of the parents done the murder. It's a sad conclusion I have reached lately, but it grosses me out completely. I want so much for it to be something else (actually I wish most that none of this had ever happened, but that goes without saying.) But I also entertain other ideas, such as maybe JR was both murdered & molestor, and PR wouldn't say anything as if she did turn in JR, she'd be "without a man" (a tragedy even for a modern southern belle who hasn't the strength of character to stand on her own two feet, appearances were everything to her even if they were outdated ideas on appearance), not to mention that it's one thing to fight cancer, but to fight it as a suddenly single woman with a husband in jail for murder and finances all askew.. well, she didn't want to lose security, even it it meant having to live with and look a murderer in the eye day after day. I think she hadn't much (if any) perosonal integrity so the difficult but ethical choice may have been beyoind her capabilities. Now if PR murdered JBR (and even been the molester), I am not sure why JR would have stood by her, although I doubt he has any integrity either. Some people prefer to lie in their own excrement rather than face change, and he was likely caught up in the "appearnce" game every bit as much as PR.

Good god, this whole case simply turns my stomach.

SunVenus,
The case has everything, including potentially the perpetrator(s) being still alive?

Logically it could be any R, but the surrounding non-participatory evidence, i.e. LEA inaction, silence, DA assisting the R's, exonerating them etc. Nobody but nobody speaking out, when did you last hear that.

Even Michael Jackson and OJ had those shouting from the sidelines, with tales of abuse and money being exchanged for silence. The press and media waded in continually, and the R's, well John gets to write his saintly books and parade around the TV Studios displaying his reptilian innocence. I reckon many in the media know full well its a BDI case thats legally closed for exploitation, so John serves himself up as a talking head.

If it was JDI there is no way he would participate in public discussion, just one mistake would sink him.

Just because it might be BDI does not mean lots of other stuff was not taking place. Kolar has emphasised what many here already knew, that the R's were a highly dysfunctional family.

That might be why Dr Beuf does not want to reveal JonBenet's medical records, the truth could reveal a traumatised JonBenet.



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[SunVenus]

SunVenus,
The case has everything, including potentially the perpetrator(s) being still alive?

Logically it could be any R, but the surrounding non-participatory evidence, i.e. LEA inaction, silence, DA assisting the R's, exonerating them etc. Nobody but nobody speaking out, when did you last hear that.

Even Michael Jackson and OJ had those shouting from the sidelines, with tales of abuse and money being exchanged for silence. The press and media waded in continually, and the R's, well John gets to write his saintly books and parade around the TV Studios displaying his reptilian innocence. I reckon many in the media know full well its a BDI case thats legally closed for exploitation, so John serves himself up as a talking head.

If it was JDI there is no way he would participate in public discussion, just one mistake would sink him.

Just because it might be BDI does not mean lots of other stuff was not taking place. Kolar has emphasised what many here already knew, that the R's were a highly dysfunctional family.

That might be why Dr Beuf does not want to reveal JonBenet's medical records, the truth could reveal a traumatised JonBenet.



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Oh this bloody case! Grr! Here is my opinion-- and soley my opinion, I don't know if I am correct.

One of the perps is dead. PR was involved on some level-- at the very least on the cover up. I feel quite sure she wrote the RN. JR was at the very least involved in the cover up, and was possibly abusing JBR. He might have been involved in the stangulation. He may have done the head bash, but I can more readily envision PR or Burke having done that. I thnk either PR or JR stangled JBR, whom in thier horror & sickness may have seen it as a mercy likking.(In addition to having to get JBR medical attention andset an investigation rolling that would have thier whole illusory, perfet world come crashing down.)

But look at all the obfuscation you mentioned. Dr Beuf-- I see red flags here in that he treated PR during the immediate aftermath and he wasn't her physician. His actions sheilded her. Why? He won't release JBR's medical records-- why? There are so many players (including DAs and hired guns like Lou Smit that covered for the Ramseys-- why? (Although in Smit's case I feel I know why and it paints an ugly picture of Christian bias which is endemic in western society, plus points that the old fart was on his way out as a "crime solving genius" and his faculties may have been severly impaired.)

When JR talks in interviews or babbles in his books, his focus is off--- wants to know the "whys" rather than the "whos". If it were my child and I hadn't been involved my first question would be "who" for that would likely lead to the "why". By skipping that step in reasoning we could infer that he likely knows who-- and he is covering for either himself, Patsy or Burke (or even JAR, although that is fairly far-fetched but not implausible; JAR may have been the molestor, but not on the night of the murder.) His plaintive, whining asking "why"-- whilst seemingly a normal human reaction, aren't we all asking "why!"-- is IMO crocodile tears and misdirection.

What galls me is why anyone in their right mind would cover for these Ramsey's. Friendship? (How sick does one have to be to have loyalty trump getting justice in a murder?) True belief in R innocense? Money-induced? Could be any of those & other things not mentioned. Is it just too awful to beleive that horrific things happen in seemingly average families? Yes, of course.-- but it does happen. Even if it came to light that PR, JR and/or BR didn't do it, they haven't acted with any sort of integrity. They appear to see themselves as superior, elect and above the law. That is a hurdle I just cannot get past.

Yes I agree (and have said in my other recent posts) that the Ramsey household was a ticking time bomb. We may be looking at more than one crime here-- the sexual abuse of a child (or children) by PR, JR, JAR, any other close family memebr or friend, or even BR upon JBR) and then a murmurderous intent. The staging & cover up is yet another crime to further mask the sick Ramsey dynamic. It may be a "perfect storm" of events, which would make solving this crime even more difficult.

 

[SunVenus]

Anyhoo,
The head bash appears intentional because it happens after the sexual assault. That is it was not head bash first, so to allow a molestation, which might be a standard criminal MO.

Then again it might be accidental in that JonBenet ran into the path of the object as it hit her head, so increasing the momentum and head injury?

Also all the elements of the staging have never been agreed upon, some think aspects are staging others actual assault. I still think manual strangulation might have happened first with JonBenet losing consiousness and becoming comatose.

The head bash might be a first attempt at staging, eventually the ligature is applied to mess up the appearance of her neck.

That is, crazy as it seems, Burke applied some basic staging which was then rearranged by his parents, that which did not fit, was dumped into the wine-cellar.


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A plausible theory. But for me, I can't imagine (and to be prefectly frank, really hate to think) that BR could manage some of the staging, but as you point out the parents could have re-done the staging, which is where the RN & phoney kidnapping scenario comes into play. Indicators seem to be that BR was (and is) a bright kid (well not so much a kid anymore) and he could have seen that he'd dome wrong and tried to cover it up. I think that hints at remorse, which makes me think that he's not a psychopath, but rather very troubled, very sacred and very conflicted.

As an aside, isn't it funny (not funny haha but funny peculiar & sick) that almost 20 years later we can easily entertain these theories. The world seemed simpler in the past in some ways, but it was still as unhealhty as it is today. At least today we speak of and face the unspeakable. None of us like it, but it shows growth which may eventually lead to prevention of these sorts of crimes... or so I pray. JBR did not live and die in vain.



I Shall Not Live In Vain

If I can stop one Heart from breaking
I shall not live in vain
If I can ease one Life the Aching
Or cool one Pain
Or help one fainting Robin
Unto his Nest again
I shall not live in Vain.

Emily Dickenson

Those words give me hope.

 

[BOESP]

BOESP,
It was the parents who did the staging their forensic traces are all over the wine-cellar crime-scene, Burke's is not.

BDI is the best explanation to date. It explains nearly everything, except for the usual arcane details.

We have a motive, an opportunity, and a method, and if Kolar is to be believed it all started in the breakfast bar?

My only reservation is the head bash, it just seems out of place. Apparently there is prior chronic abuse, but no need for prior head bashing.

Other than that it is obviously RDI, it could be any one of them, but given the surrounding evidence BDI seems to fit the bill.


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I agree that one or both parents did the staging. I have no reasonable doubt about that. I still think it's 50/50 that Patsy makes just as good a suspect as Burke. She had the means and opportunity. I think Steve Thomas saw the same evidence Jim Kolar saw yet they came to two different conclusions. Linda Arndt, well, she seems to have believed John Ramsey did it yet imo a BDI could also explain Arndt's belief that Patsy was imprisoned by secrets (yet any RDI could have imprisoning secrets).

I think Burke could have been just what Thomas and other officers said: a witness and a confused little boy. It would be devastating to see a parent kill your sibling if that is indeed what happened.

I believe Patsy wrote the note and I believe John and Patsy knew exactly what happened and that's as far as I'll go. :fence:

 

[otg]

otg, I agree with your post wholeheartedly but I have a few nagging doubts. I can't see Burke doing the staging and I have no reasonable doubt that Patsy wrote the note.

Neither can I imagine not calling 911 no matter who did it. There is still a piece or two missing before my mind will be satisfied.

(I don't have as much free time as I used to, so forgive me for getting right to the point.)

Burke had nothing to do with staging other than following orders and keeping his mouth shut. As JR said, "We're not speaking to you."

PR wrote the note. Maybe she had some input from JR, but she put the pen to paper and wrote. Face it, doubters, PR wrote the note.

People call 911 when they want the police there pronto. At the time her lifeless body was discovered, they didn't want the police there. They didn't want them there until after they had done all they could to save their only remaining child. There was more going on in that family than we know. Even if a (technically) 9-yr-old child couldn't be arrested... because of all that had been going on leading up to the accidental death, the whole family would be investigated and they may have lost him for other reasons as a result of what might have been found.

Of course, all this is MOO.
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[otg]

I guess I am in a minority of this forum because I don't think BDI at all. Are people here suggesting that nine-year-old BR hit his sister in the head with such force that it fractured her skull from the front to the back? That's a lot of force. A nine-year-old would be capable of that much force I have no doubt but it would have to be very intensional, not an accident. You don't hit someone hard enough to do that kind of damage by accident. You do it purposefully, with the intent to 'at least' hurt, if not kill. Like I said, I don't see it, but it is possible. That would make BR a child psychopath that he murdered his own sister.

Anyhoo, welcome to the forum.

I was in the minority for years believing BDI, so I understand.

Actually, depending on what hit her on the head, much of the "force" that was required could have come from the weapon itself. It's a matter of physics and mechanics.

As to the psychology behind it, I wouldn't be quite so fast to use the label of psychopath because of the end-result. Motive would speak to the psychology, and people (children especially) act impulsively without thinking out the implications of what they do. One bad choice, and in an instant everything is different.
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[otg]

I'm curious...

If you knew what caused the head bash, would it change who you would consider to be the person who caused it?
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[Anyhoo]

I'm curious...

If you knew what caused the head bash, would it change who you would consider to be the person who caused it?
.

Perhaps it would.

A lot of people seem to make the assumption (UKGuy among them) that the flashlight is the weapon that caused the head bash, but I just don't see that. Yes, it could have been but there is no clear indication that it was. Just because it was wiped clean of fingerprints does not in any way indicate it was used to kill JB. What it instead indicates to me (along with the wiped down batteries) is that someone unexpected used the flashlight as a light source.

 

[otg]

Perhaps it would.

A lot of people seem to make the assumption (UKGuy among them) that the flashlight is the weapon that caused the head bash, but I just don't see that. Yes, it could have been but there is no clear indication that it was. Just because it was wiped clean of fingerprints does not in any way indicate it was used to kill JB. What it instead indicates to me (along with the wiped down batteries) is that someone unexpected used the flashlight as a light source.

Maybe you haven't noticed the avatar I'm using now, but I agree about the flashlight (or the torch for our Brit friends). Way too many problems with it for that to have caused a depressed fracture and a linear crack and not have sustained any damage to the body, lens, or bulb of the flashlight. It's kind of like the "pristine bullet" that killed JFK. It may sound good in court and it may "fit" with what is known, but it just doesn't pass the smell test for me.

It's also way too light (even with 3 D-size batteries in it) to cause that damage, and it doesn't fit the geometry of the "hole" in her skull.

Hence, my avatar.
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[Anyhoo]

Maybe you haven't noticed the avatar I'm using now, but I agree about the flashlight (or the torch for our Brit friends). Way too many problems with it for that to have caused a depressed fracture and a linear crack and not have sustained any damage to the body, lens, or bulb of the flashlight. It's kind of like the "pristine bullet" that killed JFK. It may sound good in court and it may "fit" with what is known, but it just doesn't pass the smell test for me.

It's also way too light (even with 3 D-size batteries in it) to cause that damage, and it doesn't fit the geometry of the "hole" in her skull.

Hence, my avatar.
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Since we know that some items were removed from the R household, such as the black duct tape, wouldn't it be probable that the "head bash" weapon was removed also? Just think about that. If I were the murderer and I wanted to conceal what really happened, the most important thing I would want not to be found is the instrument that has caused JB death. It is things like this that make me not want to accept a simple theory such as BDI. And I do not ignore the foreign DNA simply because it destroys some pet theory that I have. We must look at all evidence seriously without prejudice. I am not latching onto one theory because I truely I do not know. What I am doing is pointing out things that do not match theories that people want to grasp onto because they "feel right".

 

[UKGuy]

I'm curious...

If you knew what caused the head bash, would it change who you would consider to be the person who caused it?
.

otg,
Probably. It was either an intentional injury inflicted out rage, some crazy accident, with JonBenet hung upside down, then falling on her head, or not connected with the acute sexual assault at all, i.e. staging?

Because the head injury comes after the acute assault, it looks like JonBenet might have been restrained in some manner, which prevents her from avoiding whatever hit her?


.

 

[UKGuy]

Perhaps it would.

A lot of people seem to make the assumption (UKGuy among them) that the flashlight is the weapon that caused the head bash, but I just don't see that. Yes, it could have been but there is no clear indication that it was. Just because it was wiped clean of fingerprints does not in any way indicate it was used to kill JB. What it instead indicates to me (along with the wiped down batteries) is that someone unexpected used the flashlight as a light source.

Anyhoo,
Unless there is something unusual about the weapon used, I'm agnostic on what it was, since we know what the outcome was. It could be the flashlight, baseball bat, or a golf-club, who knows. Knowing if there was a piece of the paintbrush handle left inside JonBenet would be more revealing.

What the flashlight tells us is that someone was forensically aware, just as they were regarding the size-12's, size-6 underwear and the bloodstained nightgown, all tampered with or removed.


.

 

[UKGuy]

Since we know that some items were removed from the R household, such as the black duct tape, wouldn't it be probable that the "head bash" weapon was removed also? Just think about that. If I were the murderer and I wanted to conceal what really happened, the most important thing I would want not to be found is the instrument that has caused JB death. It is things like this that make me not want to accept a simple theory such as BDI. And I do not ignore the foreign DNA simply because it destroys some pet theory that I have. We must look at all evidence seriously without prejudice. I am not latching onto one theory because I truely I do not know. What I am doing is pointing out things that do not match theories that people want to grasp onto because they "feel right".

Anyhoo,
There are a lot of assumptions there. How do we know the parents were aware of the head bash?

If they were why not leave the weapon with JonBenet and blame the intruder?

the most important thing I would want not to be found is the instrument that has caused JB death.

Which was the ligature and paintbrush handle.

What if all the parents knew that night was that JonBenet was comatose, had been sexually assaulted, and recovery looked impossible?

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[Whaleshark]

I guess I am in a minority of this forum because I don't think BDI at all. Are people here suggesting that nine-year-old BR hit his sister in the head with such force that it fractured her skull from the front to the back? That's a lot of force. A nine-year-old would be capable of that much force I have no doubt but it would have to be very intensional, not an accident. You don't hit someone hard enough to do that kind of damage by accident. You do it purposefully, with the intent to 'at least' hurt, if not kill. Like I said, I don't see it, but it is possible. That would make BR a child psychopath that he murdered his own sister.

Police said a 7-year-old boy has died after a friend accidentally struck his head with a child-sized golf club -
http://mydeathspace.com/vb/showthread.php?10724-Bryce-McVety-(7)-killed-by-golf-club-blow-to-head

"Michigan State Police Capt. Harold Love said it happened Friday evening in Holly, an Oakland County village about 40 miles northwest of Detroit.
The victim, Bryce McVety, was playing at the home of the 7-year-old friend while the other boy's father was doing yard work.
As the man walked into his garage to get something, the boys got too close to each other as they swung the clubs.
The boys were friends since they were 2-years-old and attended Holly Academy together; they were in the second grade.
Love said the friend's father heard a scream around 7:45, ran back out and saw Bryce McVety lying unconscious on the ground. The man took him to nearby Genesys Regional Medical Center in Grand Blanc, where the child was pronounced dead.
"He was everything to me," Bryce McVety's father, Jeffery McVety, told the Oakland Press. "He loved baseball. He loved fishing. He was a wonderful little boy. He was my world. He was my little buddy"....
___

...And not that I'm saying that the weapon that killed JBR is definitely the golf club (although that's my flavor of the month) -- this is also important to note and keep in mind:

Golf related head injuries in children

http://emj.bmj.com/content/19/6/576.full.pdf

"...Conclusions: Other authors have reported fatal head injuries, and it would seem that parents are unaware of the risks of serious and permanent head injury, with the potential for death, attributable to blows to the head from golf clubs and balls. The need for early tuition in the safety aspects of the game cannot be underestimated and parent and player education strategies are suggested as the main means of reducing injuries in this popular sport..."

"...During this seven month period, 37 children presented to the A&E department with a head or facial injury as a result of an impact from a golf club or golf ball. The frequency of attendance peaked in the school holiday months and there was a male : female ratio of 4:1 (fig 1). The mean age was 7.8 years. Half the injuries were to the forehead/temple (table 1)..."

"...golf clubs pose a significant threat to children when unsupervised and the high number of childhood golf related head injuries, particularly frontal injury, is disturbing..."

 

[BOESP]

I'm curious...

If you knew what caused the head bash, would it change who you would consider to be the person who caused it?
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If I knew what caused the blunt force trauma it would give me more food for thought. I still stand firm that it is a low velocity-high pressure injury, more likely caused by her head coming into contact with an object or structure rather than an object coming into contact with her head.

I'd also like to know why the search warrants included an angel from the Christmas tree and why confiscate the Santa suit found in the basement.

 

[midwest mama]

I'm curious...

If you knew what caused the head bash, would it change who you would consider to be the person who caused it?
.

If you are asking what 'item' caused the head bash, it would not change my consideration of a perp, since I feel any of the R's would have been capable of dealing the death blow. But if you are asking what 'motive' caused it, it would change my opinion, and here's why:
Impulsive reaction, anger = immaturity = BDI
Accidental, from fall or shove against something = PDI
Premeditated, fear of abuse disclosure = JDI

I have been in the JDI camp for quite a while, suspecting his connection to something beyond the family dysfunction that has become more visible to us as the case has gone on. It is MOO, that only JR's responsibility to a powerful outside ritualistic group could have led him to mastermind and complete JB's heinous murder, and at some point been able to involve and secure Patsy's allegiance for the crime.

I do have a hard time imagining JR capable of keeping that level of lifestyle as well-guarded as he would have had to, since he had such a public business persona. So, I admit I am back up on the fence of allowing for a BDI crime, with JR and PR involved in 'saving' their son from a life of what they might think unacceptable for him - being known as a killer for the rest of his life. And also for protecting themselves from any public disapproval as his parents, who might face more ostracizing than either of them could have stood.

So, here I am again. :fence: Probably back to more book reading, and forum lurking, trying to wait patiently until someone finally has enough courage to come forth and tell the truth about what happened that Christmas night in 1996. I agree with a couple of other recent posters that all the players in the mainstream of the limelight surrounding this case probably will never do anything else with the information they have to close this case. It will go on to secure it's place alongside some of those other cold, cold unsolved crimes much older than this case. :tears:

 

[Anyhoo]

Anyhoo,
Unless there is something unusual about the weapon used, I'm agnostic on what it was, since we know what the outcome was. It could be the flashlight, baseball bat, or a golf-club, who knows. Knowing if there was a piece of the paintbrush handle left inside JonBenet would be more revealing.

What the flashlight tells us is that someone was forensically aware, just as they were regarding the size-12's, size-6 underwear and the bloodstained nightgown, all tampered with or removed.


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I agree with you that the flashlight and battery wipe-down suggests to us that whoever did it was forensically aware, but if that is so then how do we explain the presence of the practice note being left where LE could find it? These two pieces of evidence are totally contrary or contradictory to each other, would you agree with me on that? And if they are contradictory, it indicates to me that one of them is a deception/ruse, such that one of the following is true:

1. The flashlight and batteries were wiped down to give the impression of a non-R intruder when in fact no such intruder existed.
2. The practice ransom note was meant to be found and point guilt toward the R's.

Of these two, the first one is most likely.

If we make the assumption that one or both R's created the ransom note, then how do we explain the presence of the practice note? Does anyone believe that someone perceptive enough to wipe down batteries in a flashlight to give the false impression of an intruder using the flashlight would be careless/stupid enough to leave a practice ransom note just lying around?